For clients: Frequently, clients receive ‘adapted’ CVs for particular freelance roles. By moving away from applications and into a profile based reference system, 6prog takes away this issue. For more details see Lee Lam from DITCH.

For recruiters and networkers: A one sided database of names is so ‘pre-GDPR’. Therefore, 6prog’s people page updates itself when your contacts change their data such as recent project, new skills or availability. Connect to people who you want to trade with, not just to extend your friends list.

For freelancers: We know you are looking for work but do you want everyone approaching you all of the time? Even when you are in a project? I know. I can hear the screams of “…but I haven’t even done ‘x’ skill so why do they keep emailing me?” 6prog has preferences for available and unavailable.

The Marketplace: The marketplace doesn’t show my full profile. Correct. It enables those reading it to assess it on its merits, not by your gender or race. We firmly believe this will enhance diversity.

1/ Decide what you are selling. List out your key skills and accomplishments. Clients will typically want to know about pieces of work that you have started, managed and completed.

2/ Invest in some good kit. If you are a designer you will need the correct hardware. Whatever type of freelancing you do, you will need to communicate; well and often. Make sure your phone, email and social media accounts work. Set your 6prog alerts to ‘on’.

3/ Decide where you are keen to work – internationally or in your home town? What are the laws that dictate how much tax you need to pay and what are the costs of living in that place?

4/ Who is in your network who will help you? Other freelancers, recruiters who know you, and networking sites can keep your business private and also give you recognition and new clients that you are in control of.

5/ Blogs: keep learning. If you have made it to point five you are already doing this!

6/ Select some business tools to help you stay organised. Blog coming soon on some of our favourites.

PBOC was one of the earliest words spoken to me by my manager at a global bank.

“Sorry, what?” was my response, which was clearly what the manager wanted me to say.

“Plan. Build. Operate. Control”, came the reply.

Well I was sure it was working out well for them but wondered why not just say that in the first place. Jargon is used by people who want to pretend they know more than you. When in fact, all they have managed to achieve is a sense of disconnect or worse, rivalry.

A few years later I was headhunted out to a rival and on my last day I walked past that manager and quipped ‘ILT’ for my own amusement.